Flexible working hours, homeworking opportunities and cover for emergencies or s

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Flexible working hours, homeworking opportunities and cover for emergencies or school holidays are the top concerns for working mothers, according to a British survey on Thursday.
The survey of 1,677 people by specialist employment advice website workingmums.co.uk showed that despite a tougher job climate, in which redundancies(裁员) had risen dramatically during the crisis, mothers demanded for a more flexible schedule.
Flexible hours for full-time jobs came top of the list for 85 percent of respondents who were asked what they thought made for a family-friendly employer. That came just ahead of homeworking opportunities.
“Flexibility is really key and able to help achieve an element of work/life balance,” workingmums.co.uk founder Gillian Nissim told reporters.
She said the crisis had not reduced the urgency of this issue for working mums and that employers who want to be prepared for the eventual upturn would do well to listen to them rather than risk losing them to more forward-thinking rivals.
Many women said they had considered setting up their own business as a way around the flexibility problem and nearly half (45 percent) of respondents said they had looked into it.
Nissim said the workingmums.co.uk database alone showed that on average working mums have more than 15 years of work experience and a range of valuable skills picked up in the workplace and from their parenting experiences.
“So the benefits to employers of being able to accommodate (适应) a degree of flexibility is significant,” she said.
Part-time work, flexibility around emergency cover or school holidays were the next highest concerns with extended maternity （产假） pay as well on the list of concerns.More than half (54 percent) of respondents said they would accept a less well-paid job in return for flexibility, with 40 percent prepared to consider this option.
小题1:The passage mainly discuss the problem of _______.

A．working mothers requiring flexible working hours.

B．working mothers planning to set up their own businesses.

C．well-paid jobs.

D．unemployment at the time of financial crisis.

小题2: Flexibility of working hours can help women _______.

A．to have an extended maternity.

B．to have opportunities to operate their own companies.

C．to strike a balance between work and life.

D．to pick up a range of valuable skills.

小题3:It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _____.

A．40 percent of the respondents are ready to have less-paid jobs instead of full-time jobs.

B．more than half of the respondents would accept a less well-paid job if they were given a job of flexible hours.

C．the highest concern of working mums is about part-time work.

D．women were more concerned about extended maternity pay than school holidays.

小题4: If you are the editor of a newspaper, which column will you fit this article in?

A．Advertisements.

B．People.

C．Education.

D．Career.

答案

小题1:A
小题2:C
小题3:B
小题4:D

解析

略

举一反三

If you are having trouble falling asleep, you are in good company. About 65% of Americans said they have sleeping problems a few nights each week, according to a recent study by the National Sleep Foundation. Sleeping too little can lead to a higher risk of becoming fat and getting depressed(沮丧的). But before you go to a doctor for advice, it is worth examining your sleeping habits one more time. Some of your favorite evening habits may have something to do with the sleeping problems.
Setting a Bright Alarm Clock
The light of your bright alarm clock can prevent you from falling asleep. You can make your room as dark as possible. Cover the bright numbers with a book or consider buying a small travel clock. Your cellphone alarm may also do the trick.
Counting Sheep
When you just can’t fall asleep, it’s useless to stay in bed to count sheep. If you’ve been trying to fall asleep for more than 30 minutes, the National Sleep Foundation suggests you get up to do some reading or watch TV for a while. Such activities will make you sleepy. Before you know it, you’ll be going back to bed really tired.
3. Exercising Late at Night?
Daytime workouts(锻炼) will keep you full of energy for hours. That’s why you don’t want to exercise within three hours of hitting the sack. Fierce(剧烈的) physical activity raise your body temperature and pumps your energy level—both are bad for a good night’s sleep.
小题1:What can we learn from the first sentence of the passage?

A．It’s not good to fail to fall asleep at night.

B．People in a good company often have sleeping problems.

C．There are many people who have sleeping problems.

D．You should find someone to talk to if you can’t fall asleep.

小题2:The underlined part “hitting the sack” in the last paragraph means “______”.
A. going back home B. going to bed
C. going to the gym C. falling asleep
小题3:Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．The bad results of getting too little sleep.

B．Why the bright alarm clock keeps you awake.

C．What to do if you can’t fall asleep after 30 minutes.

D．Why watching TV and reading books make people sleepy.

小题4:By writing the passage, the writer mainly wants to tell us _______.

A．why so many people can’t sleep well at night

B．how to enjoy a good night’s sleep

C．that sleeping problems are troubling more and more people

D．that people may solve their sleeping problems by some habits

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A recent trend(趋势) in Californian restaurants shows new eating habits among those people out to have an interesting dining experience. Appetizers(开胃品)seem to be the name of the games as diners turn away from the more traditional three-course meal in favor of smaller snacks served in various types of restaurants, bars and cafes. In this way, in the course of an evening out, you might go to a restaurant for a tasty dish to eat at one end of town, to a bar with some live music at the other end, then for a coffee, and finally back to the restaurant for a further appetizer.
Reasons for this trend are the fact that so many different types of restaurants have been set up recently, each with their own particular type of food and special atmosphere, together with the increased specialty in the type of snacks being offered. Gone are the cheese sticks of the old days, when appetizers were not really taken seriously. Some favorite snacks of the moment are slices of hot pizza, creamy fish-based dishes and crispy cakes and so on.
Prices for appetizers are not equal to a full meal; however, their new popularity has meant that they are by no means as cheap as they used to be. Certainly, for that special occasion, a meal in a nice restaurant, complete with the piano performance, is hard to beat. However, if we see this trend for “butterfly eating”---moving around several different places in one evening continues, then all the traditional style restaurants may well have to provide their own appetizer bars as well!
小题1:How are the eating habits of the Californians changing?

A．People are dining out less.

B．Californian restaurants are becoming less popular.

C．Most people eat less than they used to.

D．A full restaurant meal is less popular.

小题2:All the places that serve appetizers _ .

A．have much the same menu

B．have their own particular characteristics

C．have a bar with live music

D．are located at the end of the town

小题3: If you go out for an evening of appetizers, you are likely to _.

A．need a car or take a bus or other transport

B．be bored with some kinds of snacks

C．spend more time for a full meal than you would

D．eat too much meat

小题4:Appetizers used to be seen as .

A．relatively important	B．a full meal
C．a cheap meal	D． an expensive meal

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A new research shows that in Britain more and more people are returning to the old tradition that the whole family have a meal at table. Worrying about the obesity and breakdown of a family, people change their eating habits so greatly, according to analysis. They find the number of the family having a meal together increases by 5% from 2002 to 2004, and most people who have meals with their family come from the rich social class.
The new discovery makes doctors and the people struggling against obesity extremely excited. Giving up the tradition that the whole family have a meal together is exactly one of the reasons for a series of problems including children’s overweight. If a child has a meal in front of the television or the computer alone, he will often eat some fast food.
Jason Collins is one of the persons returning to the old tradition. Collins is a manager of a bake(烘面包) house. He finds after he gets used to having a meal at home with his child, the child becomes much more obedient(听话的). Dr. Jin is a child psychologist, and she expresses welcome to this result of the study. She says it can make parents have a very good chance to chat with the child when the whole family have a meal together.
小题1: What makes people change their eating habit back to the old tradition in Britain?

A．Worrying about their children.	B．Worrying about some social problems.
C．Worrying about the living expense.	D．Worrying about health and family problems.

小题2: We can infer from the passage that _______.

A．people’s eating habit has much effect on their family

B．most rich people have meals with their family

C．most children have the problem of overweight

D．most children don’t like having dinner with the parents

小题3: How do the people who hope to lose weight feel about the new discovery?

A．They feel glad.	B．They feel surprised.
C．They feel sorry.	D．They feel disappointed.

小题4: Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The child having dinner with his parents doesn’t like watching TV.

B．Children become overweight all because of having dinner alone.

C．The family having dinner together is more united and friendly.

D．The reason a child has dinner alone is that he likes fast food.

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“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”
This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.
But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?
Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up al

l night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?
Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have not telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.
One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.
The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy（时髦的）, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.”
Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!
Don’t be available all the time, turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.
Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.
小题1:The passage is mainly about .

A．problem with technology

B．improvements of our life with technology

C．the important roles technology plays in our everyday life

D．major changes which will be likely to happen to technology

小题2:The writer quoted（引用） what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to .

A．share a truth about life

B．tell us what life was like long time ago

C．make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen

D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same

小题3:Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940’s house? Because .

A．they liked to live simple lives

B．they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions

C．they were troubled by modern inventions

D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them

小题4:What do you think the underlined word “available” in the 1^st suggestion offered by the writer mean?

A．Busy on line

B．Free.

C．Be able to

D．Be found by others.

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For years and years people have been saying that the railways are dead．“We can do without railways” people say，as if motorcars and planes made the railways unnecessary．We all keep hearing that trains are slow，that they lose money，that they’re dying．But this is far from the truth．In these days of expensive oil，the railways have become highly competitive with motorcars and planes．If you want to carry people or goods from place to place，they’re cheaper than planes．And they have much in common with planes．A plane goes in a strange line and so does a railway．What is more，it takes you from the heart of a city into the heart of another．It doesn’t 1eave you as a plane does，miles and miles from the city center．It doesn’t hold you up as a car does，in endless traffic jams．And a single train can carry goods which no plane or motorcar could ever do．Far from being dead，the railways are very much alive．Modern railway lines give you a smooth，untroubled journey．Where else can you eat well，sleep in comfort，feel safe and enjoy the scene while you are traveling at speed at the same time? And we are only at the beginning．For we have just entered the age of super-fast trains, traveling at 1 50 miles an hour and more．Soon we will be wondering why we spent so much on motorways we can"t use because we have not enough money to buy the oil and planes we can"t fly in for the same reason.
小题1:Some people think the railways are dead for many reasons except that ______ ．

A．planes and motorcars will take the place of trains	B．oil is expensive today
C．trains are slow	D．railways lose money

小题2:The writer’s idea seems to be that ______ ．

A．we can do without railways	B．trains have much in common with motorcars and planes
C．motorcars and planes are not as good as trains	D．trains are as good as motorcars and planes

小题3:According to the writer，which of the following is NOT true?

A．It is cheaper to travel by train than by plane．

B．The railway station is usually at the center of a city．

C．When you get off the plane you will find yourself right in the city center．

D．No motorcar or plane can carry as many goods as a train does．

小题4:From the underlined sentence at the end of the passage，we can infer that ．

A．1ess and less people will take planes and motorways in the future

B．the people have known that the train is better than planes and motorways

C．trains will be more popular in the future

D．nobody likes spending much money on motorways

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